148 



NEW ENGLAND F A R JM E R , 



KOVEEBER 1:1, ]f^39 



PRESERVATION OF THE POTATO. state of a farmer's potatoes «'hen deposited in his 



One can form something of an estimate how ex- cellar. For the reasons given above, and from our 

 tensively tiio potato enters into use as an article of i0^^n experience, we think both these modes of se- 

 food among tlie American people, from the com- •^'"'■'"g' potatoes, or preparing them, erroneous. If 

 plaints we hear from all parts of tlie country, or at P"* '"to bins, they should be covered as closely as 

 least with very few exceptions, of the partial fail- possible from light and air ; and if there is dirt 

 ure of tluit crop the present season. We frequently ; enough tlirown into the bin to completely fill all 

 hear people when instituting a comparison between I ^'"^ interstices between them, so much the better 

 tliat root and broad, declare they would sooner part ^t the roots. It has been recommended by some 

 with their wheat bread, than with their potato; and potato growers, and the practice is founded in rea- 

 tliese are not the poorer classes, but respectable . son, to line the sides of the bins with turf, the 

 wealthy people. Now, though we do not carry our lower sides placed inwards, and when the bin was 

 affection to this esculent as far as tliis, yet we are | f'Hed, to cover it closely in the same way, and with 

 " free to acknowledge" that a good potato is a good ! '''e same material. 



thing, and an inferior one, the worst of bad things. Owing to the severity of our winters, potatoes 

 An unripe or defective potato, is one of the most cannot be allowed to remain where thoy grow ; else 

 indigestible and unwholesome kinds of aliments their mealiness and freshness, would be much in- 

 tliat can be taken into the stomacli, if indeed there i creased by allowing those, that are to be used the 

 is any aliment about it all ; and f>-om the specimens coming season to remain where they are till the 

 we have seen at numerous tallies this year, we spring opens. Since this cannot be, the method of 

 have no doubt that many of the cases of illness ' preservation that approaches the nearest to this 

 that have been charged upon liot weather, bad wa- ^^iH be found the best, and this njethod doubtless 

 tor, malaria, and a variety of other things, are justly 'is pitting-, or ns most of our farmers term it, bury 



due to the swallowing potatoes as hard and as 

 heavy, m well as about the size of ounce balls. 



The potato, in its original jucultivaled state, i 

 decidedly poisonous ; and whenever it is used ii 

 an imjierfect or unripe state, the result is not widely 

 different now. Owing most likely to the hot dry 

 weather, potatoes, this year, are generally of an 

 inferior quality, and hence more pains and care 

 should be taken in selecting those intended for food, 

 and greater attention paid to preserving them, than 

 in years like the last, when among thousands of 

 busliels tliere was scarcely a defective one. Ire- 

 land, on the other side of the Atlantic, and Nova 

 Scotia on tliis side, are the most celebrated for the 

 excellence of their potatoes, and both have a tem- 

 perature comparatively low, and an atmosphere 

 moist and Immid. If such a climate and tempe- 

 rature is required for the perfection of this root, 

 will not the hot weather we have had tlie present 

 year, account most satisfactorily for its little value, 

 and also show wliy its growth is impossible in our 

 more southern states, or still nearer the equinox. 



Potatoes almost instinctively shun the light and 

 air. Tlicse things so indispensable to the perfec- 

 tion of many other things, are most injurious to the 

 potato, and the grand secret of its preservation lies 

 in the most perfect exclusion of these iSient but 

 active agents. To perceive the difference between 

 roots exposed, and those secluded, we have only to 

 take one which has grown partially above ground, 

 and one that has ripened in its proper place. Tlie 

 one will be green on the exterior, hard, heavy, and 

 bitter in the interior, while the other will be of the 

 natural color, farinaceous, and fine flavored. Far- 

 mers should take lessons from these facts, and con- 

 form their practice to the teachings of nature. In 

 England and Scotlaud, where most serious com- 

 plaints have arisen from the failircs of the planted 

 tubers, it is acknowledged by all, that roots which 

 are allowed to remain in the ground during the 

 winter never fail of vegetating, and that those se- 

 cured by pitting are more likely to succeed than 

 those put into cellars, and thus partially exposed to 

 light and air. 



The most common method of preserving pota- 

 toes is to put them into bins in the cellar, where 

 they are left without any covering or other prepar- 

 ation, and used as wanted. It is also customary 

 to get in as little dirt with them as possible, and 

 pne standard of good farming has been the clean 



ing in holes in the field. In burying in this way 

 care should be taken not to put too many in a pit, 

 or in other words, not make the heaps to large. 

 Twenty or twontyfive bushels is quite enough ; and 

 some prefer even a smaller number. The cone 

 should be regular so as to be covered equally. 

 The covering of straw and earth first put on should 

 not be too thick, as otherwise the roots will heat 

 and be injured : but at the latest period allowable, 

 the thickness of the covering should be increased 

 so as eflfectually to prevent freezing. In covering 

 potatoes in the fall, it should be remembered that 

 the great object of the first covering, is simply to 

 exclude air and light, and preserve them from rain 

 or unfavorable weather, and the last coverino- is 

 the one to be relied on as a defence against the 

 frost If the roots are dug and pitted immediately 

 without unnecessary exposure, and if the ground 

 and the process of covering is properly selected 

 and performed, the potatoes will come out in the 

 spring, in excellent order, rather improved than 

 deteriorated by their winter's keeping. 



Farmers who are in the habit of making their 

 pork from potatoes, or feeding them extensively to 

 their stock, will undoubtedly see the propriety from 

 the present high prices, of sorting their roots more 

 carefully than they have hitherto done, in order to 

 sell, or preserve, as many as possible. The appre- 

 hended scarcity of this root will also prompt to 

 this course ; and siiould induce all to adopt the 

 best and most effectual measures to preserve through 

 the winter uninjured, or, if possible, improved, this 

 root on which so many rely for sustenance. — Gen- 

 esee Farmer. 



From the Cultivator. 



THE VERMONT BEE-HIVE. 

 Hon. Jesse Bitei,, — 



Sir — In my communication, which appeared 

 in the Cultivator, May last, relating to the con- 

 struction of a hee-house and bee management, I re- 

 commended my mode of growing honey, in prefer- 

 ence to tlie old mode of managing bees, wliere it 

 was designed to facilitate their cultivation among 

 those who would pay but little attention to them, 

 dislike the task of hiving, and render them more 

 safe from' the destruction of the moth and other 

 casualties, than the ordinary method by which bees 

 are generally kept. 



In all cases where it is convenient and desirable 

 to the owners of bees to devote their attention, 

 hive them where they swarm, and those who wish 

 to realize a profit f'nm this insect, by forwardincr 

 yearly a (|uantity of honey to inarj<et, I do fieely, 

 and consider it no more than justice due my neigh- 

 bor, iMr John M. Weeks, and the community at 

 large, recommend the Vermont bee-hive, which is 

 considered the best in use by a majority of the api- 

 arians of this state, and is coming into general use 

 in most of the states in the Union. 



This hive was invented and patented by John M. 

 Weeks, Esq. of Salisbury, Vennont, who has from 

 youth devoted a portion of his time studying their 

 nature, and most assiduously for the last eight or 

 ten years, in observing their habits and demonstra- 

 ting facts ; the result of which no doubt is opening 

 a new era in bee management, from which the pub- 

 lic must derive a great benefit. 



He is considered the first apiarian in this state, 

 and it is a matter of doubt whether there' ia one in 

 these United States that has investigated the sub- 

 ject, and made so many discoveries respecting the 

 nature and habits of this instinctive little insect, as 

 Ml Weeks, who has been at several thousand dol- 

 lars expense, in time, in experimenting, publishing 

 books, illustrating facts, &c. &c. 



Wlien on a visit at his residence, a few weeks 

 since, I could not but feel deeply interested in his 

 illustration of facts, as exhibited to us by means of 

 /till observing hives, (glass, covered with wood,) neat 

 and elegant as any parlor furniture ; the chambers 

 filled with the most pleasing and admirably con- 

 structed drawers of glass, and drawers filled and 

 filling with beautiful honey, without bread, or any 

 thing unpleasant in its appearance. These drawers 

 are taken out and sent to market at any season of 

 the year. He informed us that be usually obtained 

 from his old stocks, from twenty to thirty pounds 

 of honey in these drawers annually, and from his 

 earliest young swarms, thirty pounds and over, 

 without robbing them of their winter stores. The 

 Vermont hive affords an easy and safe method of 

 preserving the lives of tlie bees through the winter, 

 without destroying any. He sliowed us a feeder, 

 and the manner of using it. Through the means 

 of this, the bees may be fed on low priced or sale 

 hor.ey. W« noticed several healthy stocks, which 

 he informed us were wintered entirely on Havana 

 honey, and have yielded several boxes of clover 

 honey this summer. We were also informed that 

 the principal part of bee management depends on 

 a knowledge of the natural habits of the queen 

 and her influence ; and no apiarian can at all times 

 be sure to succeed in their cultivation, unless he 

 has a thorough knowledge in managing them. 



He also instructed us in his art of compelling 

 tlie bees to make and keep on hand extra queens ; 

 how they may be divided into separate colonies 

 when they have become too nuuierous, without 

 swarming. 



He showed us how the bees would transfer them- 

 selves when the age of their combs rendered it 

 necessary, by a little aid of their owner, and 

 urges, by many arguments, that bees should never 

 be compelled to leave one tenement and take an- 

 other. 



We observed in one hive, that ho had killed the 

 queen and confined her therein. In this experi- 

 ment, Mr Weeks is about to demonstrate several 

 important facts, viz ; That there is no monarchical 

 government in a hive of bees, nor domineering 

 power in a queen; though the queen may be dead 



